beauty walks a razors edge

when my flesh turns into a wisp of smoke. everything will become quiet again. wherever i begin this journey i will return to that very place. equanimity brings its own peace. nothing in that space is partial or judgemental.

after christmas
the elf on the shelf
flies to reno

blue river running slow and lazy

they built a new bridge over the outlet of a lake near my home. the dam at the outlet was closed for the construction. the outlet flows through a state park and fills the marsh. i was impressed at how much care they took to keep anything from the project getting into the marsh. we needed that bridge but the marsh is ten times as important to the wildlife and entire system. In spring this patient little stream turns into a raging river and jumps fifteen feet at the end where it falls to meet lake huron. but in the early fall it was a trickle until they finished the project. this year it rained more than usual and the marsh did not seem to lose an inch. nature managed her part of the project just fine too.

moss
on the river rocks
wobbles

the second hand unwinds

i have a lot of clocks. cuckoo clocks. mantel clocks. an old austrian pendulum wall clock that my grandfather rocked me to sleep in front of. none of them have a battery or a plug. they are the eternal reminder of the true nature of time. it moves on even after we are gone. at some moment in the future there will be no time left. no one will wind the clocks. our universe will shrink to the size of an electron and disappear until the next big bang. everything i know will run out of time. everything will become one again. so. if you dont want to go ‘cuckoo’ just halt the pendulum.

walking meditation
i stop myself
at the first step

NOTE: when i die does time cease or do i?

live under the sky

chickadees are so happy they fill me with unbounded smiles. all over my yard in the heat of summer or the bitterest days of winter they fly. cocking their heads in noisy celebration and observation. they see every movement and react in their perfect chickadee form. each moment is born and births another for them. the certainty of pachelbels canon and i never tire of listening and watching.

the way
branches move…
with no breeze

kundalini dreams

in my yard are a million things. maybe a trillion things. infinite things really. the designs of the natural world captivate and free me. when a daylily ‘sees’ me what does it see. patterns is all. noise from my breath is all. and just another part of itself. such is the wisdom of nature. if we could only see ourselves in it and with it we would be wise lost in its vastness.

still
in midair…
the hummingbirds
invisible
wings

this old world will still spin without me anyway

the heart that beats in my chest does not want to fight anymore. if you do you will have to do it without me. i dont want to spill ill will or pain on anyone. enemies most certainly included. if they choose that role i will turn the other cheek. demeaning language toward anyone. over exaggerated hyperbolic speech. and the glaring lies of those who are always right and those who are always wrong weigh on anyones soul who listens to them. i wonder why more people cant see that. and why it took me so long to.

strung out
over the old oak
the big dipper winks at me

just my imagination running away with me

i feel like i will live forever. i am not looking for or anticipating the end. i think i will just keep listening to the music of the clouds and pick a few stars from the sky for dinner later on…

at the waterfall
adjusting
the pace of my life

not dark yet but its getting there

the way has no future. just this path is all i have. one long walking meditation i guess.

no one
at the bus stop
just me a cat and an old woman

noblesse oblige

kind words from a mentor. its the things that dont cost that have the most value.

writing a haibun
to myself
call this a senryu

locked tight in the universe

the best experience in the world is when you think yourself right into a tight corner and then blow right through the walls. freedom is afterall only an experience and you can have it at will once you learn the trick. it cant be given to others and it cant be stolen from you once you have it. it is your original self.
 
a day lily
opens
to a bee